This is about how my boy became a young lion. This is a translation from the German "Junglöwen" which all young players at TSV Munich from 1860 are known as and you can therefore deduce that he plays for the one of the youth teams at the traditional club of Munich.
Alex has been football mad since he was born - or soon after that anyway. A key reason for that must be that I am also of a similar ilk. Where we differ is that he has a significantly higher degree of talent which is why he has made it to be a player with what many better qualified persons than I,consider to be the best youth set up in Munich - and one of the best in the whole of Germany.
And I wanted to record his experiences.
Last year he was playing for one of the top local sides. We live to the NE of Munich and he was playing for Freising where he spent two years having previously been at Lohhof for three years.
In the autumn of last season (20010/11), whilst watching a game against Alternerding (who subsequently won the league in which Alex's team was playing) I was approached by a very pleasant man who sat next to me and just started chatting - about football and the game we were both watching. Eventually - after quite some time and with maybe 15 minutes left to play he came clean and announced himself as a scout for 1860 and then explained his specific interest in young Alex.
He asked for a contact number and subsequently (maybe two weeks later as I sat in a meeting in BMW) I was contacted by the Head of the Young Lions development who asked if Alex would like to come for a trial. "Is rain wet?" does not translate into German and, if I had said that I am sure, knowing the German sense of humour as I do, that it would not have enhanced Alex's chances.
The phrase "many are called but few are chosen" seems appropriate but Alex did enough to get a second invitation. That was followed by a promise of a third trial in the spring, the invitiation for which finally came in March. By this time Alex was inclined not to pursue it but, unsurprisingly, his desire to play for such a good team - he had of course by now met and trained with the players - proved enough for him to accept the invitation. This trial led to a (final) promise of an invitation to a fourth trial which was to be observed by the trainer's who would be taking over the team for the following season and an assurance was given that a final decision would be then made.
We had by then discovered that another player from his team had also been for a trail and been refused. The boy is a good player and much bigger than Alex. However, my opinion of his weaknesses are that he is not as technically sound and does not have the ability to pick out a pass so my confidence in a positive outcome was not dented.
On Judgement Day I picked Alex up once again from school and drove across Munich to the training ground where his fate was to be decided. I think I felt reasonably confident as we crossed town as this was his fourth appearance in such exalted company but my confidence drained when I realised four or five other trialist were also there. I watched every exercise very closely to see how Alex compared with the other young aspirants and could see strengths in each of them. But Alex was his usual compact efficient self when passing and controlling the ball and his elegance as he moved was there for all to see. They were timed over 20 meters and subsequently Alex has told me that he put in one of the faster times. All too soon the trial was finished and the boys were drifitng away to the showers with Alex happily in their midst. By now he had got to know the players already there and seemed to be liked. Without doubt this was a key factor in the decision making process which was clearly now being finalised amongst the knot of trainers on the far side of the ground.
I withdrew to stand under a tree and watched as the parents of each hopeful were approached and given feedback on how their young prodigy had fared. One boy (we know him now as Luca) skipped away from the short meeting between him, his parents and the trainer. Another had his head down as his parents clearly attempted to change the trainers' decision.
One more group was spoken to but I cannot remember how it turned out for them as I knew my own sword of Damocles held on its last thread. Would it fall - with all the implications that would have for Alex's love of the beautiful game - or would the thread hold.
Well it did hold and the trainer's positive step and smile as he approached me was the first indication that it would. A short feedback about Alex's strengths as a player and a person was followed by a direct invitation for Alex to join the Munich Lions next season.
Alex was still in the changing room and when he finally emerged - I have no idea what he finds to do for such a time - he fell into step with me as I headed for the exit gate. He asked the obvious question and I told him the answer. He burst into tears of relief and hapiness and I immediately followed suit.
We made a fine pair as we left the ground but we knew we would be returning again and this time not in uncertainty but confident in the knowledge that Alex's hopes of a future in the game we both love had not been dashed at the first big hurdle he had faced.
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